Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Zurich, Section for Veterinary Epidemiology, Zurich, Switzerland.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2013 Jun 6;7(6):e2249. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002249. Print 2013.
Human echinococcosis is a neglected zoonosis caused by parasites of the genus Echinococcus. The most frequent clinical forms of echinococcosis, cystic echinococcosis (CE) and alveolar echinococcosis (AE), are responsible for a substantial health and economic burden, particularly to low-income societies. Quantitative epidemiology can provide important information to improve the understanding of parasite transmission and hence is an important part of efforts to control this disease. The purpose of this review is to give an insight on factors associated with echinococcosis in animal hosts by summarising significant results reported from epidemiological studies identified through a systematic search.
The systematic search was conducted mainly in electronic databases but a few additional records were obtained from other sources. Retrieved entries were examined in order to identify available peer-reviewed epidemiological studies that found significant risk factors for infection using associative statistical methods. One hundred studies met the eligibility criteria and were suitable for data extraction. Epidemiological factors associated with increased risk of E. granulosus infection in dogs included feeding with raw viscera, possibility of scavenging dead animals, lack of anthelmintic treatment and owners' poor health education and indicators of poverty. Key factors associated with E. granulosus infection in intermediate hosts were related to the hosts' age and the intensity of environmental contamination with parasite eggs. E. multilocularis transmission dynamics in animal hosts depended on the interaction of several ecological factors, such as hosts' population densities, host-prey interactions, landscape characteristics, climate conditions and human-related activities.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Results derived from epidemiological studies provide a better understanding of the behavioural, biological and ecological factors involved in the transmission of this parasite and hence can aid in the design of more effective control strategies.
人体包虫病是一种由细粒棘球绦虫属寄生虫引起的被忽视的人畜共患疾病。包虫病最常见的临床形式，即囊型包虫病（CE）和泡型包虫病（AE），给低收入社会带来了巨大的健康和经济负担。定量流行病学可以提供有关寄生虫传播的重要信息，因此是控制这种疾病的重要组成部分。本综述的目的是通过总结通过系统搜索确定的流行病学研究中报告的重要结果，深入了解动物宿主中与包虫病相关的因素。
系统搜索主要在电子数据库中进行，但也从其他来源获得了一些额外的记录。检索到的条目被检查，以确定使用关联统计方法发现感染的显著危险因素的可用同行评审的流行病学研究。有 100 项研究符合入选标准，适合提取数据。与犬感染细粒棘球绦虫相关的流行病学因素包括生食内脏、可能食用死动物、未进行驱虫治疗以及主人缺乏卫生教育和贫困指标。与中间宿主感染细粒棘球绦虫相关的关键因素与宿主的年龄和寄生虫卵污染环境的强度有关。在动物宿主中，多房棘球绦虫的传播动态取决于几个生态因素的相互作用，如宿主的种群密度、宿主-捕食者相互作用、景观特征、气候条件和与人类相关的活动。
结论/意义：流行病学研究的结果提供了对参与寄生虫传播的行为、生物和生态因素的更好理解，因此有助于设计更有效的控制策略。
